The present invention relates to internal combustion engines, namely, to an engine that isolates the combustion chamber from a compression chamber and directs the combusted fuel mixture tangentially against a drive wheel.
There are many types of engines that have been developed over the past 250 years. The evolution of engines began with steam engines, which were an external combustion engine, but were dangerous and inefficient. Stirling engines were developed because of the danger of the early steam engines. Stirling engines are still used where quiet operation is greatly desired. They too are external combustion engines. Next came internal combustion engines. These include two stoke gasoline and diesel engines, four stroke gasoline and diesel engines, and turbine engines.
Two stroke engines are the engine of choice for limited use with great power production. They are simpler than four stroke engines, such as those found in automobiles, because of the lack of valves. Further, two stroke engines fire every revolution as opposed to once every other revolution compared to four stroke engines. Two stroke engines can work in any orientation, which is advantageous in applications, such as garden or yard tools like an edger or chain saw. A four stroke engine, by contrast, uses oil for lubricating the crank shaft and pistons and managing the oil flow could be troublesome and add to the complexity of the engine to solve this problem.
Unfortunately, two stroke gasoline engines have several problems as compared to a four stroke gasoline engine. One is that the compression of the air-fuel mixture causes leaking past the cylinder out the exhaust port during each cycle. This leaking is an environmental hazard. Further, two stroke engines do not last as long as a four stroke engine. The lack of a dedicated lubrication system means that the parts of a two stroke engine wear a lot faster than those in a four stroke engine. Further, two stroke engine oil, mixed with the fuel to provide lubrication, is expensive and is consumed at a rate of about one gallon for every 1,000 miles if used as a car engine. Lastly, two stroke engines are less efficient than four stroke engines, so fuel economy would suffer.
A two stroke diesel engine, by contrast, which only compresses air and then injects the fuel directly into the compressed air, is a much better match with the two stroke cycle. This is the engine of choice in large diesel engines, such as those used in heavy machinery, ships, and locomotives.
The diesel engine often utilizes a turbocharger or supercharger to fill the chamber with air prior to the compression step then subsequent fuel injection/combustion step. The forced air into the chamber clears out the burnt fuel exhaust out an exhaust port normally found on the opposite wall of the chamber from that of the intake valve. This design lends itself to large engine applications and is not practical for small engine applications, such as for applications of a gasoline two-stroke or four stroke engine.
A reciprocating internal combustion engine is the engine of choice for mass transit as it is relatively efficient compared to external combustion engines, is relatively inexpensive to build, as compared to gas turbine engines, and relatively easy to refuel, as compared to electric cars. The standard internal combustion engine uses a four stroke cycle that includes, drawing in a fuel air mixture, compression of that mixture, ignition and rapid expansion, then exhausting of the spent fuel exhaust before the cycle repeats. The engine can be cooled internally, via a radiator coolant system, to prolong life and efficiency, or it can be air cooled, utilizing radiating fins.
The four stroke engine can be very efficient, but it loses power as compared to a two stroke engine since twice as many steps must be performed, meaning that only one combustion for every two revolutions can occur. A four stroke diesel engine operates much as a gas engine does, except it relies upon a higher compression of the air, with no fuel mixed prior to compression and then added just before combustion due to the high pressure. The higher the pressure, the greater the power released during the combustion stage. An exhaust step occurs after combustion prior to beginning again and drawing a new supply of air to compress. Since the fuel is added just before combustion, a higher air compression can be achieved, resulting in higher power output for the same cylinder displacement of that of a gas engine.
In a gas turbine, a pressurized gas spins the turbine. In all modern gas turbine engines, the engine produces its own pressurized gas, and it does this by burning something like propane, natural gas, kerosene or jet fuel. The heat that comes from burning the fuel expands air, and the high-speed rush of this hot air spins the turbine. Gas turbine engines have a great power to weight ratio as compared to reciprocating engines. Gas turbine engines also are smaller than their reciprocating counter parts of the same power. Gas turbine engines utilize a compressor to compress incoming air to a high pressure, a combustion area, to burn the fuel and produce high pressure, high velocity gas, and a turbine, to extract the energy from the high pressure, high velocity gas flowing from the combustion chamber.
The main disadvantage of gas turbines is that, compared to a reciprocating engine of the same size, they are expensive. They spin at such high speeds and such high temperatures that designing and manufacturing gas turbines is very difficult from an engineering and materials perspective. Gas turbines also tend to use more fuel when they are idling, and they prefer constant rather than a fluctuating load. This explains why they are more suited for aircraft use and not for conventional automobiles, although military applications have led to the use of a gas turbine in tanks.
What is needed is an efficient internal combustion engine that avoids the environmental limitations of a conventional two stroke gasoline engine. Further, what is needed is an efficient internal combustion engine that optimizes power output with respect to the direction of force to turn a drive shaft. Further still, what is needed is an efficient internal combustion engine that can be compact, saves fuel, and optimizes power over that of the prior art.